brastilo

Reusing and Recycling

About a month ago, I went to a talk at the recently re-opened New Museum in New York City that featured three artists presenting works in the museum’s inaugural exhibit, “Unmonumental”.  One of the artists, Shinique Smith, was particularly interesting.  In her pieces, called Bale Variants, Smith compiles clothing and other textiles such as shirts, blankets, and stuffed animal bodies, and makes them into bales.  These are replicas of the bales of used clothing that are sent to third world countries to help clothe the needy.  I was particularly intrigued by her technique, the ways in which she played with colors and had a sense of humor (in the biggest Bale Variant featured in the exhibit, one can easily see the head of a Tigger doll).  But also interesting, was how she acquired these garments.  As she stated in the talk, many of them were found on the street.  There’s something poignant about being able to find unwanted clothes just lying on the around on the streets of Manhattan.

And that’s why I love recycling.  I always give my unwanted clothes to a charity, be it Goodwill, the Salvation Army, or Housing Works.  But now, it’s even easier.  Cool Hunting recently reported on a new collection service called “Wearable Collections” that will place textile collection bins in your residential or office building, making it easy to simply drop off your items.  Then, they’ll donate these items to places that really need them.  Instead of ending up in a landfill, your clothes are reused and recycled, thereby reducing the amount of trash in our landfills (that Reduce, Reuse, Recycle phrase never seems to disappear from our lives, does it?).

This is also why Brastilo is doing its part, as much as it can; to help keep the amount of trash that enters our landfills to a minimum.  Several of the accessories we sell are sourced from recycled materials; our Blue Paper Bowl, as discussed in previous posts, is made of recycled newspapers, the Banana Leaf Hanging Lamp, also previously discussed on this blog, is made from banana leaves, and the Tropical Flag Wall Art is made from “hand-painted recycled logs rescued from old buildings.”  To quote our Web site, these are all “beautiful example[s] of the many ways Brazilian artisans are using sustainable products to create spectacular works of art.”  Thankfully, it’s not just Brazilian artisans who are doing their part.

I feel a little proud of my fellow man right now.  Sigh.

Natural algorithms

Nothing inspires us more than nature.  From the banana leaf hanging lamp to the hand-carved monkey head, Brastilo is very much driven by the environment that's made Brazil famous. 

Which is why we were all so taken by these fantastic jewelry pieces from Nervous System.  As Metropolis Magazine explains, the design duo, both graduates from MIT, base their jewelry designs on patterns found in nature.  Metropolis states:

"Rosenkrantz...first conceived of the line while laser-cutting a building model with a facade of shifting hexagons for a class project. Architecture and jewelry, she realized, both like pretty patterns. Those hexagons became the basis for the Radiolaria line, named after the sea creatures whose gorgeous cellular structures influenced Buckminster Fuller."

And these pieces really are amoebic in quality (or are they more like paramecium....my 10th grade biology is failing me).  Just take a look at the stunning necklace below, part of their Radiolaria line.

It's both web-like and floral, feminine and stark.  It's a wealth of contradictions but still organic.  It's a fascinating way to create jewelry.

Even better are the pieces from the Dendrite collection.  Nervous System describes the line best, saying, "This is a series of necklaces, each featuring a unique pattern. No two are alike, only one of each pattern is produced. We generate the patterns by aggregating tiny circles of varying sizes into complex configurations that mimic the natural forms of corals and seaweeds. These are then etched in one piece from durable stainless steel."

Because the forms are derived from natural algorithms, that means you can have your very own, unique necklace.   They're gorgeous, as you can see below, and remarkably inexpensive.  And they're a great way to bring a little bit of nature to your staid, jewelry collection.

There's truly nothing better than well-designed pieces.  Thank you Nervous System, for helping nature inspire us at Brastilo yet again. 

Happy Earth Day!

I once knew someone whose mom would bake a cake to the earth for the Earth's alleged birthday.  She'd then walk it into the ocean while singing happy birthday. 

And while this love for our Earth may be a bit extreme, we do love our Earth here at Brastilo and we think you should too!  So, to help you help preserve our Earth, here are a few tips, articles, and little facts to get you on your way...

FACT - did you know that there are TWO earth days?  I didn't either.  According to our trusty friend Wikipedia (and seriously folks, where would this blog be without Wikipedia?!), the UN celebrates Earth Day on the March Equinox.  The April 22nd Earth Day actually began in 1970 when Senator Gaylord Nelson declared that the issues surrounding Earth conservation were national issues.  So really, the Earth Day we celebrate is a commemoration of the environmental issues entering the national agenda.  Interesting. 

FACT - Earth Day has a flag.  I mean, what doesn't these days, right?   Hell I can create my own flag on sites like We Are Multicolored.  But this flag is kind of cool. It's called the ecology flag and it has green and white stripes like the American flag and a yellow theta where the 50 stars would be.  Designers chose theta "because of its historic use as a warning symbol, or the Peace Symbol."  You can view the flag here.

TIP - Composting, which admittedly sounds kind of gross in theory, is actually quite the useful tool if you're trying to save the Earth one household at a time.  Essentially, composting is the re-appropriation of waste (such as leftover food) into fertile soil for gardening.  There are numerous environmental benefits including enriching soil and eliminating pollution.  But, according to the EPA, composting can also help you save money by eliminating the need for fertilizers and soil.   Now that's handy!  And just in case you're not sure what's actually compostable, the EPA has a great chart for you to reference.

ADVICE - Since composting is a bit scary to try for the first time and seems like it could be messy, gross, and, well, ugly, we've found a lovely kitchentop composter - stainless steel composting pail.  Isn't it gorgeous?  We thought so too.  It'll make you forget all about the worms and trash inside...

TIP - When you decide it's time to upgrade from Zack Morris' brick of a cell phone to a more modern device like, say, the iPhone, just remember to recycle.  I know the temptation to just throw that ole piece of junk away, but don't do it!!  There are many organizations that actually help you recycle that thing you just can't wait to get rid of.  Check out sites like Recellular, which allows you to donate your old phone, and the site Cellphones for Soldiers, which donates your old phone to help soldiers call home. 

TIP - If you're looking to recycle something bigger than a cell phone and you live in NYC, make sure to check out the NYC WasteLe$$ site.   It has oodles of information on how to properly recyle that old TV or that now-defunct laptop you spent all of your high school savings to buy only to have it crash on you three times mid-thesis but you've been saving anyway because you simply can't bear to part with it.  Sigh.  NYC has come a long way in helping to keep our landfills free of things that don't need to be there, letting us recycle everything from wire coat hangers to egg cartons.  We love NYC's recycling program.  Well, I mean, we love NYC in general so were biased, but still - it's all-inclusive which is great for our Earth.  Hooray NYC!

TIP - Don't buy anything you absolutely don't need (she says dubiously 2 days after she purchased a $300 dress she'll never wear).  But seriously folks, the best way to be green is to not buy stuff you don't need.  And by that, I'm not telling you to forsake everything and live like a dharma bum on a hill in Berkeley (I tried that for 4 years and all I got was the freshman 15 and a higher tolerance for beer).  We understand that we have standards of living.  We want our homes to be serene and calming and we want our clothes to reflect who we are.  The point is to not purchase in excess, like my dress purchase.  And also, be conscious of what you purchase.  Like at Brastilo, for example, we source our wood from sustainable forests.  This means that we're not cutting down any rainforests to bring you our media centers.  And we don't bulldoze your backyard to create your nightstand.  We love nature.  That's why we're so careful to make sure we show it off the best way we know how with pieces that are carefully crafted.  This is the sort of design philosophy you should court when buying anything new for your home.

ADVICE - As you can see, we can go and on and on about the ways you can be green.  What do we recommend?  Check out the green sites listed in our blogroll in the righthand sidebar - sites like Spring and Worldchanging.  And also check out The New York Times Magazine's Green Issue from this past Sunday.  It's a great way to get acquainted with green issues and how you can help.

Happy Earth Day, everyone.  And if you feel really inspired, bake the Earth a cake.  I hear she likes chocolate....

Saving the earth, one hour at a time

Maybe it's the memory of my mother hollering at the top of her lungs, "Turn off the light in the bathroom if you're done in there!!!", but I am really good at turning off electronics when they're not in use.  I even keep most of my electronics on power strips that I can turn on and off when necessary, so there's no "over-charging".  You could say I'm obsessed.

Well, finally there are people more obsessed with saving electricity than me.  Earth Hour is a fantastic initiative begun last year in Sydney.  Designed to demonstrate the amount of electricity that can be saved simply by turning out the lights, Earth Hour asks businesses and households to turn off their lights and electronics for one hour.  As they say on their website:

"It started with a question: How can we inspire people to take action on climate change?

"The answer: Ask the people of Sydney to turn off their lights for one hour.

"On 31 March 2007, 2.2 million people and 2100 Sydney businesses turned off their lights for one hour - Earth Hour. If the greenhouse reduction achieved in the Sydney CBD during Earth Hour was sustained for a year, it would be equivalent to taking 48,616 cars off the road for a year.

"With Sydney icons like the Harbour Bridge and Opera House turning their lights off, and unique events such as weddings by candlelight, the world took notice. Inspired by the collective effort of millions of Sydneysiders, many major global cities are joining Earth Hour in 2008, turning a symbolic event into a global movement."

Well to all you fellow electricity-saving-obsessives, it's your time to shine....or not.  Earth Hour is happening this Saturday, 3/29 at 8pm EST.  Participating cities are listed on the website, and Brastilo is encouraging you all to participate, even if you're city isn't listed.  We love the idea of Earth Hour, the idea that this small step can both make a point and actually save valuable resources.  Brastilo does what it can to use sustainable resources, and we encourage our customers, you loyal readers, to do the same.  Last year, the Sydney event saved between 2-10% of the cities electricity.  That's an enormous amount.  And imagine how much we can all save if all of the participating cities can save that much.  It's remarkable. 

So get your friends together and throw a candlelight party.  Or just enjoy the time away from the TV, the computer, and the rest of it all, with a loved one. 

Superuse, the superhero of eco-design

Bored by staid design?  Tired of wasting useful resources on stupid things?  Have more trash than you know what to do with?  Superuse to the rescue (cue superhero music)!  It's described as an "online community of designers, architects and everybody else who is interested in inventive ways of recycling."  Truly amazing.  This site highlights just how important eco-friendly design has become to consumers and designers.  And some of the designs featured definitely require superhero strength. 

Quite possibly the coolest thing I've seen thus far on Superuse is a woman who recycled a defunct plane and made it her home. Look at the image - hanging amidst the trees.

via Superuse

It's truly a sight to behold and a great way to make use of something that would otherwise make a ton of waste.  And, to top it off, it cost a lot less than a typical house!

Superuse also links to a site called Airport Journals which has a whole article about planes that have been recycled into homes.  It's funny, it seems so bizarre.  But with the Dreamliner in the air and AirForce One decked out with beds and a press corps, is it that hard to imagine retrofitting a plane for your home?  I can totally picture the interior of my old Pan Am - mod wallpaper, the Brastilo Swivel Arm Chair, and, my absolute favorite piece, the Brastilo Bench with Moveable Tray.  Of course, there would have to be a disco ball and a lava lamp too. 

But seriously, all hippie/disco fantasies aside, we are obsessed with inventive ways of recycling.  And we love finding new inspiration for our designs, our philosophies, and our own personal lives.  We already sell 2 pieces that are made from recycled goods - the Blue Paper Bowl made of recycled newspapers and the Banana Leaf Hanging Leap made out of banana leaves.  But the possibilities, as Superuse has proven, are endless - and we love the challenge.

So go forth and inventively recycle!

Via VSL

The next generation recycles

As you've probably all gathered by now, Brastilo loves design.  You might even go so far as to say we're obsessed...and you'd be right.  Because well-designed products and inventions are becoming increasingly important.  Not to sound alarmist (or like an Al Gore disciple), but our planet is in need of some well thought out design, the kind that won't add to the crippling amount of waste it's currently facing.  On this blog, we've congratulated ourselves for our eco-friendly accessories, such as the Blue Paper Bowl.  We're extremely proud of our commitment to using sustainable wood in all of our furniture.  And you're probably all familiar with our strong design heritage by now, which is inspired by (and sometimes sourced from) local artisans.  Well, enough about us!  Because this post is about the next generation of designers, the ones that will have to live with the earth we're all going to leave behind. 

The "Trash to Treasure" competition, which is partially sponsored by PBS's "Design Squad" - a show dedicated to teaching kids about engineering and design - is encouraging the future designers of America to reduce, reuse, and recycle.  From the press release:

"The Design Squad Trash to Treasure contest will challenge kids of all ages to take everyday discarded or recycled material and re-engineer it into functional products. The product can move things or people (Mobility), protect the environment (Environmental), or be something kids can play with inside or out (Play).

"Some of the repurposed materials kids might use in their innovative designs are fabric, paper, plastic, small electronics, wheels, clamps, springs, batteries, hardware, wood, bike parts, string, rubberbands, cardboard, kitchen gadgets, etc."

The winner of "Trash to Treasure" will win $10,000 and the chance to create a complete protoype of their design.  This is truly an inspiring event.  Not only are kids being inspired to think outside of the proverbial box, but they're going to do so in an environmentally-friendly way, driving the message about the importance of sustainability at a young age. 

And I have to say, I'm a bit jealous of the protoyping portion of the prize.  That goes way beyond what could otherwise be the invention category at your local science fair.  What child or teenager do you know that has seen their designs and inventions actually get produced?  Can you imagine how exciting that will be?  If only I were 10 years younger...and, you know, talented.

The competition doesn't begin until April 1, 2008 but have no fear - we'll keep our eyes out for you. 

In the meantime - take out that ratty cardboard box in the garage, those stacks of old magazines, and that bag of recyclable bottles and get to work!!!

Via Core 77

Green Resolutions

I love the hopefulness of the New Year – the idea that we can begin everything again, and do it even better than last year!  Personally, I am usually skeptical of creating New Year’s resolutions; in the words of O at Home’s editor in chief Sarah Gray Miller, "I've collected enough unused gym memberships to realize that I never keep resolutions."  Amen!

But this year is different.  I have decided, for the first time in almost 5 years, to resolve something:  my resolution for 2008 is to be more green.  As I write it, my heart collapses under the weight of such a responsibility.  Beyond the use of environmentally friendly grocery bags, what can a girl in Manhattan do to raise her green quotient?

Thankfully, Treehugger is running a great series about designers doing their best to stay green in 2008.  Designers have great insights; Danny Seo’s current posting gives me hope that even I can walk into JC Penney’s (gulp – that’s quite an admission from this snobbish Bloomingdale’s shopper) and purchase something that won’t hurt the environment.  But it always seems like designers are so much more knowledgeable or capable than lil ole me.

Thanks to Yahoo, even I can now take steps to improve the green-ness of my home.  The “Tips to Make Your Home a Greener Place” tool walks you through each room in your house and how to greenify the various energy-wasters within. 
One of the suggestions I personally love - and actually abide by, sans a New Year’s resolutions - is to power off my electronics when I leave the apartment.  It’s easy, efficient, and you actually notice a marginal decrease in your energy statement.  Take that, ConEd! 

This tool also inspired me to talk to my parents about their heating ducts which are 30+ years old and incredibly inefficient.  It also got me to buy reusable bags from Baggu for all of my family members this holiday season, so they don’t continue to waste precious resources on plastic grocery bags. 

Think of the thousands of trees in Brazilian rainforests we’ll all be saving by taking these small steps.

It just keeps getting easier and easier to stay in the know and keep our resolutions.  So now we don’t have to waste excess energy OR excess money on a useless gym membership…again.

Happy New Year!

Green Is Universal

Wish you were part of the cast of NBC’s mega hit Heroes?  Why wish when you can help save our planet and be a hero in real life?

As part of their new initiative to educate their audience on how to live the “green” lifestyle, NBC Universal has launched their “Green Is Universal” campaign; an online platform providing news, green clips, interactive games, constant updates on everything that’s happening at NBC Universal, and more.

And if you think that going “green” is hard, checkout the helpful tips detailing the tiny steps you can take today to help our ailing environment.  For instance, did you know that 100 million trees are used annually to produce junk mail?  By logging onto DirectMail.com or OptOutPrescreen.com you can get your name removed from these annoying mailing lists for credit cards that you don’t need, all while helping to renew our forests. 

Once you’ve learned your tip for the day, it’s time for some good clean fun by building a virtual “green” home, calculating your carbon footprint and growing a virtual forest.  And while you’re there, get your friends involved by sending a personalized greeting featuring Tim Gunn and Hayden Panettiere. 

It’s our world, and change starts with you.  Have some fun while making a difference.